The wind turbines on Wolfe Island are slowly starting to come to life. Erected over the past year, the turbines are set to be fully operational by June 30, and the company that installed them is now in its final testing phase to make sure they are all working as they should.

Chatham-Kent's acting medical officer of health defended his support of wind turbines, despite a colleague's recent report. Dr. David Colby said there is no hard evidence that turbines are a health risk, in the wake of findings from Dr. Robert McMurtry to the contrary. McMurtry told a provincial standing committee on Bill 150 that whenever there is uncertainty on impacts, the government should be cautious.

Council at its regular meeting on April 27 received a lengthy report from municipal planner Lorelie Spencer about the municipality's first wind energy application. The application is called the Plateau Wind Farm. The proposal would locate a total of ten 1.5 MW large-scale wind turbines at various locations. Nine of the turbines would be in the Municipality of Grey Highlands. The proposal also includes: transmission lines, a meteorological tower and a switching station.

A group of southern Alberta landowners has lost its fight to block a proposed power line that would run from Lethbridge into Montana. The Alberta Court of Appeal has ruled that the province's energy regulator was right when it said it didn't have the power to re-examine the location of the line's corridor, which had already been approved by the National Energy Board.

When B.C. voters go to the polls next Tuesday, they will not only choose a new government, but also decide the fate of an entire industry in the province - private power production. The New Democratic Party, running neck-and-neck with the incumbent Liberals, wants to return B.C.'s focus to public power and is vowing to slap a moratorium on private production, hitting developers working on wind power and run-of-river projects. A Liberal win would spell a big victory for upstart power producers.

Representatives from Colchester County council are not anticipating any obstacles when they discuss the second reading of a wind turbine development bylaw this week. The construction of a small windmill farm on Nuttby Mountain will again come before council Thursday night.

A proposed $55-million wind project at Point Tupper is undergoing a federal environmental assessment. ...A federal assessment is triggered by a project's size (over two megawatts of capacity), possible environmental effects and whether the developers are seeking federal financial assistance.

A group of concerned citizens in the Merigomish area have launched an investigation into the information Shear Wind has provided to the province as part of its environmental assessment.

In a strongly worded letter to Environment Minister John Gerretsen, Bruce Warden Bill Goetz calls on the province to establish an renewable energy working group with sub groups to review and make recommendations on specific issues and potential regulations affecting solar, wind, biomass and other renewable energy projects.

The motion, which passed on a 4-2 vote, contained a couple of provisos. The provincial government must first insure that concerns about distance of turbines from residences and the location of transmission corridors are adequately addressed.

The Union Water Supply System manager is concerned about the wind turbine project proposed to be built near two UWSS raw water intakes in Lake Erie. John Kehoe told the UWSS board last week that he is worried that the proposed project might adversely affect the quality of the raw water at the intake - either during construction or operation.

Much like they've paralyzed the redevelopment of Kapyong Barracks, Treaty One First Nations are threatening to tie up the province's massive new wind farm in court unless they're included in the $800-million dollar deal. Aboriginal leader Terry Nelson says the wind farm will be located about 10 kilometres from his reserve at Roseau River on land that seven First Nations consider their traditional territory.

Acciona Energy confirmed Friday the 30-megawatt wind farm that was supposed to go into service in November near Exit 3 of the Trans-Canada Highway will not be constructed this year. "The project is suffering from the economic downtown. Liquidity for capital projects is scarce right now and this project is extremely capital intensive," Schneider said.

Barrie residents opposed to, and in favour of, wind turbines will have the opportunity to voice their opinions tonight. A public meeting at city hall will review proposed Official Plan and zoning bylaw amendments in the hopes of creating a policy regarding the use of wind turbines within the city.

A proposal to place industrial wind turbines in Lake Erie's Pigeon Bay was the focus of an information open house hosted March 8 by a citizen's group at Kingsville's Lakeside Pavilion. "It shouldn't happen," said Gord Meuser, a lead member of the Citizens Against Lake Erie Wind Turbines (CALEWT), speaking in opposition to plans to put large-scale turbines just offshore from Kingsville, Union, and Leamington.

The Citizens Against Lake Erie Wind Turbines will hold an information meeting Sunday at Kingsville's Lakeside Park. The meeting will be held in the pavilion from noon to 4:30 p.m. The citizens' group is against a proposal to put wind turbines in Pigeon Bay in Lake Erie south of Kingsville and Leamington but Sunday's gathering is not a rally as proposed by a Kingsville town councillor last month.

Construction of a $140 million transmission line between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alberta, has been delayed at least five months because of appeals in the United States and Canada ...The anticipated start of construction, which was slated for March, is now sometime this fall.

Although Premier Dalton McGuinty and Energy Minister George Smitherman have promised to streamline approvals of renewable energy facilities, the Ontario Power Authority doesn't appear to have any major projects in mind apart from a contentious off-shore proposal at Scarborough Bluffs. Even if the OPA did, there don't appear to be any plans for major expansion in the Dufferin area in the near future.

Superior, Erie, Huron and parts of Ontario - are particularly prone to freezing over in the winter months, meaning that ice pack and ice floes could potentially damage turbine bases and towers. A feasibility report released in January by Wisconsin's Public Service Commission notes that freshwater ice is harder than sea ice and warns of the risk of thick ice floes striking the turbine bases.

Premier Jean Charest has asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to make a case for hydroelectricity when he meets with U.S. President Barack Obama Thursday. Mr. Charest talked with Mr. Harper on the phone Saturday ahead of Obama's visit to Ottawa and pressed him to raise the issue. "We have been working very hard for the past five years to develop the American market," Mr. Charest said Monday.